I studied at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.I’m against anything that sounds like disinvestment, privatization, America … I believe Manmohan Singh has sold India to the USA and I dislike him for that.
Why not Russia or China?

I oppose the Indo-US Nuke Deal.
I believe it’s unfavourable to the people of my country.
My country, China

I am a member of the Communist Party of India (CPI).

i. The Left, it was believed, would succumb to the populist measures undertaken in the budget and would finally accede to this nuclear agreement.

We were reacting too soon, it seems. Recently, CPI General Secretary, C.P. Bardhan wrote to the Prime Minister stating, very indiscreetly, that the Left would withdraw support if the government went ahead with the deal. The fact that this deal is in India’s best interests is widely known and needs no reiteration.

What needs reiteration is that, once again, national interest is being compromised for the sake of petty politics. Why must the communists bring in their personal animosity for the Americans into the picture whilst viewing the deal? Would the deal have come through had it been maybe the Indo-Russia Nuclear Deal or the Indo-China Nuclear Deal?

One would expect the Left leaders, who are educated, to be flexible in their opinion at least for the sake of the nation’s interest. All the same, their reaction is not unforeseen, given their set notions about any relations with the US. Hence, it is the BJP’s reaction that leaves me more perplexed. It is one thing that this is the first time in four years of the UPA’s tenure, that the BJP has realized its role as the Opposition. However, the fact that they have decided to oppose a deal which their own government initiated is odd. They have played their role of an Opposition party; but they have done so in their personal interest, not the nation’s. Why should they let the UPA get the credit for this deal, albeit the fact that it is in the country’s best interests?

Whilst it is quite apparent that the Left and the BJP are playing a game of personal interest and politics, it is dumbfounding that the UPA is not being more assertive about the deal. It has not even been discussed in detail yet!

The Indian National Congress has a long history, and a tradition, which no other political party in India has today. It has given the country some of its best leaders, and its politicians are backed by a large reservoir of experience. It is the same party which produced an obstinate Indira Gandhi, who went to the extreme of declaring a state of emergency to prove her point. Why, then, is the Congress displaying an inability to have the nuclear deal passed in Parliament? The answer is the obvious and is the same as in the case of the Left and the BJP. Furthermore, the ruling coalition does realize that the aam aadmi of India does not have an idea about this agreement – its significance, need, merits or demerits. All this becomes apparent when External Affairs Minister, Pranab Mukherjee says, “The government won’t be sacrificed for the sake of the deal“. It is as simple as that – even the Congress, despite knowing the significance of the deal, does not want to risk an early election. If it does and loses, it will be losing six entire months of power, which it would have got otherwise.

It is quite tragic that our government has got us the best deal we could have had, but we are still losing out on it.